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Arne Lietz besuchte vom 7. bis 9. Oktober 2017 die Philippinen als Mitglied einer Delegation von internationalen Parlamentarierinnen und Parlamentariern. Schwerpunkt der Gespräche in der philippinischen Hauptstatt Manila war die Lage der Menschenrechte in dem Land. Bereits im Märch 2017 hatte das Europäische Parlament in einer Resolution die große Zahl außergerichtlicher Hinrichtungen durch die Streitkräfte und Bürgerwehren im Rahmen der Kampagne zur Drogenbekämpfung verurteilt. Eine Fortsetzung dieser Kampagne droht die Fortschritte bei der Reduzierung von Handelshindernissen zwischen den Philippinen und der Europäischen Union in Frage zu stellen, wie Arne Lietz in der untenstehenden Pressemitteilung erläutert.
Gemeinsame Pressmitteilung der Progressive Alliance, Party of European Socialists und Akbayan Citizens‘ Action Party:
International parliamentarians group urge Government of the Philippines to stop the killings, stop silencing dissent
MANILA– A 7-person human rights mission from the Progressive Alliance (PA), a global network of more than 130 progressive parties, parliamentarians, and NGOs, and the Party of European Socialists (PES) urged the Philippine government to take action against the killings and to cease its aggressive efforts to silence the critics of President Rodrigo Duterte’s administration.
“We are extremely alarmed at the mounting cases of killings under the President’s campaign against illegal drugs,” Konstantin Woinoff of Progressive Alliance said. “The killings continue unabated yet the Philippine government continue to deny it to the international community.” The mission went to depressed communities in Caloocan and Navotas which are most affected by extrajudicial killings and met with lawmakers and human rights advocates in their 2-day visit around Metro Manila.
“The government’s campaign is marred with gross human rights violations that we fear are encouraged by the President himself in his public speeches. The killings have preyed on the most vulnerable: the youth and the poor. The killings must stop now,” Emilia Töyrä said. The mission delegates also scored the cases of political persecution by government and the systemic attempt to silence dissent in the country. The delegates highlight the baseless cases of wiretapping and kidnapping against Akbayan’s Senator Risa Hontiveros and the threats currently being hurled at the Church. “The absurd cases against Akbayan Senator Risa Hontiveros, a friend of Solidar and a vocal critic of President Duterte’s policies, is just the latest example of the government’s attempt to silencing dissent in this country. Dissent is essential in a democracy,” Conny Reuter from Solidar said. “The Church also becomes a subject of persecution, as it stands by the people, especially the poor who are heavily victimized by the rampant killings,” added Woinoff.
The mission delegates from the European Union also called for President Duterte to work for the immediate end of the killings and to stop its aggressive efforts at silencing dissent, else risk straining trading relationships with the international community, and committed to closely monitor the situation in light of the upcoming Generalized Scheme of Preferences (GSP+) review, a special trading instrument that allows around 6,200 Philippine products to enter the EU duty free.
“The special trading deal between the Philippines and the European Union, one of the biggest trading partners of the country, requires amongst other standards, a stable human rights situation in the country. If the human rights standards are not upheld, then there may be consequences in the Philippines’ inclusion in this special trading instrument of the EU,” said Arne Lietz.
“We therefore call on the government to cease its hostile attempts at silencing anyone who dares stand up against the government’s drug war. The voice of the people must never be silenced!” Woinoff said. The delegates finally urged the government to take action by letting the UN investigate without compromising conditions, hold accountable police officers guilty of using excessive force and solve the drug problem with a human-rights and health-based approach.
Bei Interesse an einem Interview mit Herrn Lietz melden Sie sich gerne über arne.lietz@ep.europa.eu oder +32 2 28 37296
